Our
house is white fence on right- Our trees and fence burnedCLICK ON EACH PICTURE FOR A LARGER PICTURE
Our
house is white fence on right- Our trees and fence burned
2004 Suburban that caused the damage
Inside
our fence- George was in bedroom to left.
Hummer
H2,3 week old Mercedes Convertible destroyed on left,
Suburban
on right
What
was left of Suburban on our fence line
Our property on right- white fence & trees
Mercedes - what was left
Hummer H2- what was left
As
Suburban pulled out of House
Lolita Harper
Daily Pilot
December 14, 2003
NEWPORT-MESA — The screeching of tires, the clash of metal and a series of
explosions woke Irvine Avenue residents early Saturday morning, as a sports
utility vehicle veered out of control, crashed into a home and burst into flames
— miraculously avoiding injury everyone involved.
"Imagine a four-ton missile crashing through support beams in the garage,
traveling at about 30 to 35 miles per hour, and that is what you have here,"
said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman. "It is fortunate that, despite the
damage, nobody was hurt."
A 43-year-old woman, who lives on the corner of Baycrest Road and Irvine Avenue
— on the Newport Beach side of the popular thoroughfare — was backing out of her
garage, onto the northbound portion of Irvine Avenue at about 7:30 a.m., police
said. She went to make a U-turn at Baycrest — to head south on Irvine Boulevard
— when a green Dodge Ram pickup driven by a 43-year-old Newport Beach man hit
her Chevrolet Suburban, police said.
The gray Suburban accelerated and crashed into the garage of David Weisman, who
lives on the Costa Mesa side of the street.
"We were in bed sleeping and we heard this big bang," Weisman said. "We knew it
was some kind of accident but had no idea it was in our front yard."
Neighbors frantically knocked on his front door and rang the doorbell to warn
him, his wife and infant son to get out. The truck had smashed through the
garage door, through Weisman's new Mercedes-Benz SL sports sedan and through the
wall, finally lodging itself under the weight of the tile roof. The accelerator
was jammed and the vehicle continued to run at full steam, officials said.
"The accelerator was stuck and the wheels were still spinning, " Shulman said.
The driver of the Suburban managed to climb out the passenger door before the
heat from the engine sparked a flame and ignited the gas in the tank of the
Mercedes, which stilled had its paper tags on the windows.
Several explosions followed and flames fully engulfed the garage and the
surrounding trees. Weisman said he and his family climbed over a neighbor's wall
to escape.
George Margolin was asleep next door — no more than 15 feet from the crash site
— when he heard a loud "thunk," followed by the continuous "whomp, whomp, whomp"
of the running engine. He rushed to his backyard, where he found a raging fire
threatening his home.
"It was a pretty interesting wake up call," Margolin said.
The former photojournalist grabbed his camera to capture the drama and then
reached for a water hose to protect his house.
"I thought our house was going to burn," he said.
Newport Beach and Costa Mesa fire companies responded and immediately checked
for anyone who may have been trapped in the home, Costa Mesa Battalion Chief
Chris Riley said. Finding none, a total of 23 firefighters, including six fire
companies and a battalion chief, worked to isolate the blaze and extinguish the
flames.
"The crews did an outstanding job," Riley said. "The tree went up and we had to
prevent it from extending from the scene of origin -- and we did."
Riley estimated a total loss of more than $250,000 for all three vehicles: a
Hummer H2 and Mercedes parked in the garage and the 2004 Suburban.
Shulman said the accident is still under investigation, as there are conflicting
reports on what lane the Suburban was in when it was hit and how the four-ton
truck ended up shooting across the four-lane street.
"We are not sure exactly how the accelerator got pushed under," Shulman said.
"It is still under investigation."
A crowd gathered on Irvine Avenue, which was closed for four hours, on both
sides, from Santiago Road to 20th Street. Neighbors with cameras, joggers, bike
riders and water polo players on their way home from practice lined the
perimeter of the scene asking questions and conveying disbelief.
Cathy Margolin brought out a tray of coffee and offered it to her neighbors.
Mark Berrett, who lived a few blocks away, brought his boys, Beau and Tanner, to
the scene to watch the firefighters in action.
"It is really amazing that nobody was hurt," Berrett said.
The crowds remained for hours, as tow trucks came to pull the scorched vehicles
from the garage. Workers pulled out the Hummer first. Its frame was relatively
intact but the tires were melted and the exterior was burnt from bumper to
bumper. It was only a few months old, Weisman said. It was hauled to the side of
the road, where onlookers posed in front of it for photos.
Next was the sporty German coupe, which emerged from the wreckage without a rear
end. It was badly charred, yet the chrome on front passenger wheel still
glistened in the sunlight — a terse illustration of the once glitzy automobile.
The Mercedes sat on an additional tow truck, adding to the caravan of damaged
cars.
"That was a brand new SL," Weisman said. "I just bought it three weeks ago."
The Suburban caused the most difficulties, as the weight of the tile roof that
rested on top of it proved too heavy. After three tries by three different tow
trucks, a larger truck came in to finish the job.
"We have yet to see how much of the building is going to go once the Suburban is
pulled out," Riley said.
The Suburban inched from beneath the wreckage, weakening the structure of the
garage with every move. The roof slowly sunk down as support beams collapsed and
individual tiles gradually fell from the sloping rooftop.
Weisman, his family and the driver exchanged hugs on the street and comforted
each other, while safety personnel cleaned up the mess.
"This is just unbelievable," Weisman said.
Luckily, for all involved, the damage fire was confined to the garage and its
contents, with no major injuries to any people, officials said.
"As tragic as this is, it really could have been a lot worse," Riley said.